Holder for newspapers or the like

ABSTRACT

A NEWSPAPER HOLDER COMPRISES A BASE STRIP AND AN OVERLYING STRIP. THREE CLIPS ARE MOUNTED ON THE UPPER SURFACE OF THE OVERLYING STRIP AND URGED INTO GRIPPING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE FOLD OF A NEWSPAPER BY A NUT AND BOLT ARRANGEMENT. THE CLIP IS LOOSELY MOUNTED ON THE BOLT SO THAT IT MAY BE SWUNG 90* TO PROVIDE A GUIDE FOR ALIGNING THE FOLD OF THE NEWSPAPER AGAINST AN ALIGNING EDGE AND FOR TEMPORARILY RETAINING IT IN PLACE WHILE THE OTHER CLIPS ARE BEING TIGHTENED.

1971 F. F. CHRISTIAN HOLDER FOR NEWSPAPERS OR THE LIKE Filed July 2, 1969 INVENTOR FAY F CHRISTIAN BWW$9-Q TT'YS.

3,555,622 Patented Jan. 19, 1971 United States Patent 01 hoe 3,555,622 HOLDER FOR NEWSPAPERS OR THE LIKE Fay F. Christian, 116 W. Market St., Mount Carroll, Ill. 61053 Filed July 2, 1969, Ser. No. 838,482 Int. Cl. B42f N US. Cl. 24-67 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A newspaper holder comprises a base strip and an overlying strip. Three clips are mounted on the upper surface of the overlying strip and urged into gripping engagement with the fold of a newspaper by a nut and bolt arrangement. The clip is loosely mounted on the bolt so that it may be swung 90 to provide a guide for aligning the fold of the newspaper against an aligning edge and for temporarily retaining it in place while the other clips are being tightened.

This invention relates to a holder for newspapers or the like.

It is an object of my invention to provide a lightweight convenient newspaper holder which is capable of holding several newspapers, or several sections of one newspaper.

According to my invention, 1 provide a holder having clamping means which engages the folded edge of the newspaper along a line parallel to the folded edge, but spaced therefrom sufficiently so that the innermost fold of each section is subjected to the gripping pressure of the clamping means and retained in place by said gripping pressure.

A further object of my invention is to provide an improved screw actuated clamping device which also serves as a guide and a temporary retaining member while the paper and holder assembly is being manipulated and the other clamps are being tightened.

I have found that spring actuated clamps are difficult to manipulate. This is for the reason that in order to obtain proper positioning and alignment of a newspaper section, all of the clamping jaws must be held open while the newspaper section is inserted beneath each one. This cannot be conveniently done with two hands, because one hand is engaged in manipulating the newspaper and the other hand cannot simultaneously operate two or three widely spaced clamps.

Therefore, according to my invention, I provide a plurality of clamps, each clamp being in the form of an elongate clip which can be rotated 90 into a guide position in which a portion of the clip overlaps the base by about an inch, so that the newspaper section will be frictionally engaged at two or three places, to the end that the newspaper section will be maintained in position as the clamps are tightened up one by one.

Other objects, features and advantages will become apparent as the description proceeds.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section taken along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary plan view showing one of the clips in a changed position; and

FIG. 4 is a section taken along line 44 of FIG. 3.

The holder comprises a base strip 11 and a superimposed strip 12. The base strip may be two or three inches wide and of a length at least equal to the length of an ordinary newspaper, and preferably two to five inches longer. The superimposed strip 12 may be an inch wide. The strips are preferably made of a lightweight nonwarping material, such as hardboard. Then two strips are secured to each other, as by glue or other adhesive.

Extending upwardly through the two strips are a plurality of bolts, preferably three, the heads of which are nonrotatably keyed to the lower strip. A clip 14 is provided for each bolt. The clip has a hole 19 sufficiently larger than the diameter of the bolt 13 so that it is loosely mounted and can be tilted as shown in FIG. 2. Wing nuts 15 are provided to urge the clip downwardly into contact with the upper surface of the superimposed strip 12. Washers may be provided if desired. The clip is a sheet metal device about three inches long providing a clamping edge 16 which extends beyond the edge 18 of the superimposed strip 12. The clip has a tail portion 20 which bears against the corner edge 21 of the strip 12.

As shown in FIG. 2, one or more sections of newspaper are disposed beneath the clamping edge 16 of the clip 14, and then the wing nut is screwed down until the newspapers are firmly gripped by the clamping edge 16.

There should be at least two clips 14, but I have found that preferred results are obtained if a third clip is provided for clamping the middle section of the newspaper, with the upper and lower clips located near the top and bottom edges of the newspaper. The holes 22 provide a convenient means by which the holder and the newspapers held thereby may be suspended from a pair of horizontally spaced hooks, with the newspaper hanging down. Preferably the clamping edge 16 is curved downwardly to the extent shown in FIG. 2 so as to provide a concentrated gripping action at a point which is spaced sufficiently remote from the edge 18 as to assure that the gripping pressure will be applied to the innermost folds of a newspaper section 17.

According to my invention the insertion of the newspaper sections 17 into the holder is greatly facilitated by the present arrangement in which the clips may be rotated into the FIG. 3 position so that one end portion of the clip will extend far enough beyond the edge 18 to serve as a guide for the newspaper. At the same time, the edge 18 of the superimposed strip 12 serves as an aligning edge against which the fold of the section or sections 17 may be abutted. Thus, after the clips have been rotated into the guide position of FIG. 3, it is possible to insert the folds of the newspaper sections into tfirst one and then another of the clips by the use of one hand only, the other hand being available to support the holder 10.

At the time of insertion, the wing nut is loosened so that the clip is free to rock upwardly as shown in broken lines in FIG. 4 about the left corner edge 21 of the strip 12 due to the camming action of the newspaper. It will be noted that the down turned clamping edge 16 is the part which actually engages the newspaper section. Then after the fold of the newspaper is aligned with the aligning edge 18 both at the top and the bottom, the sections 17 may be held in place temporarily by the thumb of the hand which is supporting the holder, while the right hand is free to twist each of the clips, one after the other back into the clamping position, and then to tighten them up with the wing nuts 15.

The clip 14 preferably is of a resilient stock to provide a firm clamping action.

It is desirable that the clamping edge 16, when in the clamping position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, extend beyond the aligning edge 18 by a distance which is less than the width of the margin of the newspaper, which may be of the order of from /2 to 4; inch, but as above indicated, this overlap distance must be great enough so that the gripping pressure will be applied to the innermost folds of all of the newspaper sections. An overlap distance of between A of an inch and of an inch has been found sufiicient to meet both of these objectives.

However, when inserting the newspaper sections into the holder, a much greater overlap is desired. For instance, when the clip is in the guide position of FIGS. 3 and 4, inch of overlap would not be sufficient to prevent the sections from slipping away from the aligning edge '18. For that reason, I make the clip 14 of sufiicient length so that the overlap distance when in the guide position is much greater than the overlap distance in the clamping position. I have found that if the overlap distance is about 1 inch when in the guide position, and if the nuts are not too loose, the paper will be engaged with sufficient friction to enable the Whole paper and holder assembly to be handled easily without having the paper slip out.

The preferred method of operation is to insert the paper when the holder is lying horizontally on a flat horizontal surface, with the left hand engaging the holder and the right hand manipulating first the newspaper and positioning it up against the aligning edge 18, and subsequently manipulating the clips.

I claim:

1. A holder for newspapers or the like comprising an elongate base strip, a second strip secured to and overlying the left hand part of said base strip so that the right hand portion of said base strip is exposed, the right edge of said second strip constituting an aligning edge, a plurality of clamping means, each comprising a clip member having a clamping edge, means for mounting each clip member on the upper surface of said second strip for both rocking movement about a horizontal axis and for rotating movement about a vertical axis to permit rotation of same between a clamping position in which said clamping edge is parallel to the edge of said second strip and a guide position 90 displaced therefrom, the dimensions of said clip member being such that when in said clamping position, said clamping edge extends beyond said aligning edge for a predetermined distance, and the length of said clip in a direction parallel to said clamping edge being such that when in said guide position, an end portion of said clip extends beyond said aligning edge for a greater distance than said first mentioned distance to permit a newspaper section to be inserted between said clip member and said exposed base strip portion and temporarily held in place, and means for urging said clip member, when in said clamping position, downwardly toward said exposed base strip portion to clamp a newspaper section therebetween.

2. A holder as claimed in claim 1 in which the mounting means for each clip comprises a screw threaded member extending upwardly from the upper surface of said upper strip, said clip member having a hole sulficiently larger than said screw threaded member so that it is loosely mounted thereon for rocking movement, and said clip member urging means comprising a nut for said screw threaded member.

3. A holder as claimed in claim 2 in which said clip member includes a tail portion which extends beyond the left upper corner edge of said second strip so that when said nut is tightened up, said clip will rock about said left upper corner edge.

4. A holder as claimed in claim 3 in which said tail portion is provided with a hook receiving hole for supporting said holder.

5. A holder as claimed in claim 1 in which said second mentioned distance is substantially 1 inch.

6. A holder as claimed in claim 1 in which said predetermined distance is substantially Mt of an inch and in which said second mentioned distance is substantially 1 inch.

7. A holder as claimed in claim 1 in which said base strip and said second strip are made of hardboard.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 582,164 5/1897 Bacon 24-675 1,150,046 8/ 1915 Lloyd 24-243.2UX 2,453,507 11/1948 Harper 24-67.ll

FOREIGN PATENTS 392,627 5/1933 Great Britain 2467.5

DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner 

